


Unknown

by GreatComet1812



Series: Henry Stein Studios AU [3]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Angst, Attempted Suicide, Heavy Angst, Murder, Self Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24443272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatComet1812/pseuds/GreatComet1812
Summary: This is what I believe happened that caused Grant’s “Unknown” audio tape in his office. Major trigger warning, this will most likely be one of the darkest things I will ever actually write out.
Relationships: Grant Cohen & Joey Drew
Series: Henry Stein Studios AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761178
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline wise since this is part of my AU, this obviously takes place some time pregame.
> 
> Trigger Warning:  
> Attempted Suicide  
> Past Self Harm  
> Gruesome Death

Grant Cohen was always a nervous man. He was always anxious and exhausted, Joey Drew’s terrible deadlines not helping the situation at all. He’s left constantly working, unable to really stop at any point in time. 

It’s began to torture his mind to the point he’s begun wondering if life is even worth it anymore. He tried writing on the walls through his mental breakdowns, but it didn’t help but to give him yet another reminder of his powerlessness. He tried harming himself, scratches from his fingernails onto his arms, then escalating to a sharp pen tip, then escalating even further to cutting using his scissors. This just made him feel worse, more anxious, worried people would find his scars. 

It was all just... too much. He couldn’t take it anymore. Joey had asked him to get rid of the “wasters,” but... was he not a waster himself? Was he not the most wasteful to the company of all? 

Well, the wasters have to go away according to Joey. Grant now stood on his desk chair, holding the rope he’d tied crudely to the ceiling. Joey could finally be rid of him forever, and he wouldn’t have to bother anyone anymore. He slips his head through the noose, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as his own torturing words echoed painfully in his head.

The wasters... work hard work happy... taxes, taxes, taxes... time is money... doesn’t add up... $4812... taxes... taxes... wasters... wasters... waste.

His whole body goes tense as suddenly, a sound breaks him out of his thoughts. The loud creaking of his office door swinging open.

“Mr. Cohen, how are those reports go...”

That voice. That awful voice. That horrible voice of Mr. Joey Drew, finally silenced by the scene he saw before him. Grant looked at Joey in shock, his tears finally slowly trailing down his pale cheeks. Joey stands there, frozen in complete surprise.

“Mr... Cohen? What... what are you doing up there?”

Grant doesn’t meet his eyes, squinting his own shut. 

“G...” he chokes back a sob, struggling to keep himself from breaking down. “I-I’m... g-getting rid of the waster... M-Mr. Drew... I... I-I’m the waster...” he starts muttering his phrases again, the ones all over the walls, muttering them under his breath. He starts to break, unable to hold back anymore. He tries to make the jump...

Only for Joey to quickly catch him. He yanks the rope off of the accountant’s neck, easing the other man off of the chair as Grant bursts into uncontrollable tears. 

“I-I’m Sorry, Mr. Drew!” Grant finally screams, trembling and beginning to regret his decisions. “W-What am I doing?! W-Why would...” he lifts a shaky hand to his neck, feeling the marks left from the rope. 

Joey just lets him break, keeping a hold on his shoulders. This is when he begins to notice the walls. He was so focused on the center piece he’d never even looked at everything else decorating the table. He reads the walls, reading into Grant’s very soul, and... it made him angry. It made him panicked. He’d known they were in debt, but the other workers, besides his accountant, were never meant to know that. If anyone were to come in here...

Grant goes quiet as he hears Joey beginning to laugh, quietly and under his breath at first, but starting to escalate more and more into a full blown maniac laugh. His eyes were wide and insane as he looks down at Grant like a wolf looking at a scared rabbit, his grip on Grant’s shoulders tightening.

“Grant Cohen...” he says between laughs. “You better have a DAMN good explanation for why you made the decision to write out all these LIES all over your walls...”

Grant tenses, looking around. “B... B-But sir, th-these aren’t-“

“Shut the hell up, accountant. Do you have ANY idea what would happen if someone were to walk in here and find this horrible slander?!“ He laughs more. “Good thing your only “friends” are easily expendable and nobody else comes down here...” He gives an evil, crazed smile, mad with the power he knows he has over the man standing before him.

“M... M-Mr. Dr- AGH!”

Joey lifts up the smaller man, whose surprisingly light, and guides him back on to the chair, him now standing with him. Grant gasps, realizing what’s happening, desperately trying to shove Joey off. As he does so, Joey stumbles, kicking a tape recorder sitting on Grants desk and it turns on, starting it’s recording. Joey keeps his grip on the other man, grabbing the rope and shoving Grant’s head through. Grant continues desperately struggling.

Joey gives one final shove, sending Grant into the air. He hops off the chair and calmly pushes it back into the desk. Grant chokes out and struggles, air cutting off to his lungs. He swings around, knocking over a coffee mug in the process. He meets Joey’s gaze, his eyes pleading as he slowly suffers, all while the man himself just watches him.

It takes half an hour for Grant to finally lose his final breath, the color draining from his face and his eyes losing their life. Joey stops the recording before bursting into further laughter. 

“Wasteful, wasteful, wasteful Mr. Cohen...” he unhooks the rope, the accountant’s body dropping to the floor, and he drags him away.

-.-

Grant suddenly wakes up to a horrible drowning feeling. He screams as voices mix and scream with him, unable to even decipher his own voice from the others. His neck hurt, everything hurt. He saw a bright light, desperately reaching for it, only to end up seeing... the studio?

He opens his eyes, as if waking up from a deep sleep, to find himself in a cage. He sees the studio floor, then a set of legs close by. He looks down at himself, only to notice he isn’t himself at all. He couldn’t feel his neck, his head constantly swung around. His hands are permanently gloved and he uses them to feel around his now small and incredibly inky body. He feels a long string coming from his head where his neck should be. He writhes in unbearable pain, trying to speak but to no avail, only able to release garbled snarling noises.

He hears that laugh again. The laugh that would haunt him forever. Joey Drew crouches down before him, a disgusted snarl on his face. 

“Gross... should’ve thought that wouldn’t had worked. Why would my annoying accountant ever be a match for anything? He really was a waster...” he sighs in annoyance. “I won’t be trying this character anymore... who wants a living Barley anyway?”

With that, he turns on his heel, and leaves. He closes a door he’d walked through behind him, leaving the new abomination in corrupting darkness.


End file.
